Any soft pretzel makers in the crowd?

I want to make soft pretzels in advance. Should I referigerate after shaping? If so, would you go fridge to boil, or fridge to room temp, and then boil? Or, should I boil, then stop and bake off the next day.

Thanks in advance.

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Comments

brian_martin2001

I've never heard of boiling them before, interesting. Do you forgo the alkali bath? Personally, i would shape them, then put them in the fridge until they're ready, but I'm not sure if that would alter things, because you are boiling them. Good luck

FrankM_3301

No, didn't forget. The boil is the alkaline bath. I'm just wondering if I could start the process a day advance of baking the pretzels, and a what point I can pause.

brian_martin2001

Gotcha. Never heard of boiling it, just dipping them in, and baking. I still think after shaping, but before boiling, would be your best bet. When I've made bread, but not quite ready to bake, I'll stick it in the fridge, then pull it out and into the oven. I would think there's not much of a difference allowing it to warm up to room temp, just time being spent waiting. Hopefully someone here had first hand experience.

wolfiegirl

I've not made soft pretzels. Taking that into consideration I would think the best move would be to shape the pretzels, fridge them and then when you're ready to finish them, do the boil 'n bake. I thought about it and almost said boil first but that might make the dough too mushy for an overnight stay in the fridge. So my vote is to shape & fridge then fiddle with the rest of it the next day.

FrankM_3301

This Alton Brown recipe calls for a boil. I don't make a lot of pretzels, so I can't speak to authenticity. Seems to get good reviews.

wolfiegirl

Seems my earlier response to your 'lye' comment didn't get posted. I hate when that happens. Maybe if I don't post it as a response to a response it might actually show up. Looks as thought John posted a comment as well that didn't post.

Anyway, the baking soda that's baked makes it more alkaline. It's the same process and ingredient you need if you want to make ramen or alkaline noodles. It's what give the dough stretchability. For the pretzels (and bagels) it gives the final product a nice golden color. So no lie, no lye, just alkaline baking soda.

I hope this posts.

FrankM_3301

Interesting, your truncated response appeared in my notifications, but not in the thread....same with @John Fisher

wolfiegirl

Funny too but moments ago before I clicked on the comments section to see if my post 'stuck', the number of comments listed was 11. Then when I clicked on to read the comments, it drops to '3' comments in total.

(Insert Twilight Zone music here)

fisher23

Yes, mine didn't post either.

I have made pretzels a few times and I use the baked baking soda. I've tried lye but think the baked baking soda works just as well. The alkaline bath not only helps the browning but sets the exterior to give you that pretzel chew with the dense interior. My guess would be that you could maintain the texture if you put them in the alkaline bath then refrigerate. I think your dough will continue to raise and change the texture if you don't. Just my thoughts.

Erin_378910

I don't think my response posted, but I would try doing a cold retard after shaping. This is a common technique with traditional bread making. It would likely deepen the flavor some, but that would probably be a good thing!

FrankM_3301

Thanks. That's what I did. The result was disappointing. I am not sure if it was the retard, or the recipe itself (I opted for the one posted below, rather than the Alton Brown recipe that I had used in the past). The texture came out somewhere between a hard and soft pretzel...more on the hard side..I was aiming for soft. In the end, I returned them to the oven as it was cooling, left them overnight, and now have hard pretzels.

Erin_378910

That's a bummer! Your post has had me hankering for pretzels... I might do some experimenting myself and if I am successful will absolutely give you a shout.